The present invention relates generally to crash cushion or other similar barrier apparatus used to protect errant vehicles from impacting roadside obstacles. Specifically, the present invention is directed toward an apparatus which is designed to reduce the chances of serious injury to the occupants of a vehicle which impacts a roadside obstruction. The apparatus is also designed to reduce serious damage to the apparatus itself, as well as high repair costs necessary to make the apparatus functional again.
There are two primary functions of a roadside obstacle impact barrier. Initially, and most importantly, the barrier should prevent serious injury to the occupants of the impacting vehicle. Secondarily, the barrier should protect the roadside obstruction itself, which may be a power pole or bridge abutment. Protection of the obstruction is also important, for a downed power pole may mean loss of electrical power for large numbers f people. Similarly, damage to a bridge abutment may cause great expense and inconvenience to tax payers and commuters alike.
The prior art contains several devices which generally perform the above two primary functions of a crash cushion or similar barrier device. However, the barrier devices known in the prior art all suffer from one major drawback, they are "single event" devices. That is, they usually can operate effectively only one time without requiring extensive repair or replacement. Moreover, the repair or replacement of such a barrier has been very expensive, because it is both labor intensive, and material expensive, to continually repair or replace protective roadside barriers. Further, in the intervening days or weeks between the time a barrier has been damaged or destroyed, and the time that it is repaired or replaced, the roadside obstacle is not only exposed to traffic, but it is also unprotected, and is therefore a hazard to highway safety.
The devices of the prior art, therefore, are distinguished by two fundamental drawbacks: they are "single event" protection devices; and they are expensive to repair or replace.